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There is a third possible outcome, the Huddersfield forward coming in behind Bednarek gets his head to it. Move right too early and he opens the goal for a header. That's what stopped him just concentrating on the ball flight and for him unfortunately in that moment looked like the most likely outcome. The goal was caused by poor defending on the part of Edozie and Manning together with no left side midfielder after S Armstrong departed.

Alcaraz spent the two weeks in Japan playing for the Argentine U21s in two matches which would have buggered his body clock as it's nine hours ahead. I've found it's always worse going from the East. I'm not surprised he was rested.

Bednarek standing right in front of him then not getting in the header unsighted him and dropped him right in it with no chance to judge the bend. Where was the full back anticipating the cross and dropping onto the far post.

We need to sign a competent natural left back. Matt Targett on loan if fit? a possibility. I see Liveramento is playing left back for Newcastle. Bree is ok but Manning is a weak link. What the hell Martin sees in him, I can't see. It's no good bemoaning the lack of clean sheets. The obsessive playing out from the back whatever the circumstances is just an accident waiting to happen. Then bringing on Manning to back up the dozy Edozie defies logic. Add to that taking off S.Armstrong who was playing well in that triangle and bringing on Charles playing as he did left a bloody great hole down our left hand side.

Some good news WBA 2 Ipswich 0

The first half possession is all well and good but the goal came from a first time cross from S.Armstrong turned in by A.Armstrong. The first half possession was too slow as Huddersfield backed off and defended. The second half we gave the ball away too often and allowed Huddersfield to press and hit crosses, With better finishing they would have won by a mile. Backing off is all well and good but it doesn't work for us especially as we gave away too many free kicks in dangerous areas. Having Manning and Edozie on the same side is a defensive clusterfuck. Bringing Charles on and taking S.Armstrong off at the same time as Bree was crass as none of the midfielders covered the left side and Manning isn't a defender. The goal was undefended. It was a floated cross that Bednarek couldn't reach but blocked Bazunu's sight of the ball. Personally I think that goal wouldn't have happened if the left side had been left. I thought that Stewart should have come on earlier and Fraser and Armstrong played wide. After Sulemana's booking it was sensible to replace him but with Stewart.

To be fair to the man, he operates in the penalty area, that's it. It's the way he has always played. The dumb asses at Saints tried to be different. Forget him let him play around the penalty area and he will get goals. If your looking for a pressing, passing defensive tracker you don't sign him.

Adams was on the field yesterday in the 83rd minute. I'm not sure he touched the ball, made a meaningful run or tackle. On what I didn't see yesterday I have to ask myself why are we even bothering with him. IMO we should just unload him in January and take the best we can for him and bring in somebody who wants to play.

Another 'Hail Mary' goal, We deserved to win however we need to score more goals. Having said that we have a tendency when we score early to take our foot off the gas and sit a bit deeper often conceding. There's no question that scoring late in injury time deflates the opposition, and usually seals a result. We have to deal with this passive mode after scoring early and step up the control rather than concede it. Hopefully Stewart coming in and stays fit will give us a natural finisher. In the end if it takes a late goal to settle the result then so be it. The more we do it the better we will get at it and the more teams on the edge will try and defend giving us more opportunity.

Did Adams touch the ball even once. Get in a tackle. For the goal with all the play on the near post stood unmoving outside the far post watching. This was a very solid performance against a difficult team. KWP,AA and Fraser did well to create the goal. Another clean sheet. 73% possession. Manning came on but looked inferior to Bree.

Precisely! Why we are looking better already with Bree instead of Manning at left back and Sulemana has more space to play in front of him Defensively KWP is a conundrum so the organisation needs to cover the space he leaves on his forays up the field.

He was Assistant Manager at Norwich under Hughton when Russell Martin was club Captain. Obviously Martin is sure he will fit in and as an ex defender will bring another perspective on our defensive organisation. Hopefully the missing link.

Course he did, if it had been at the other end he wouldn't have given it to us. I always felt that he was one of the most biased referees around and favoured the celebrity teams. Great on VAR too

We played really well in the first half. The concentration levels were good. The only time we got ourselves into trouble when the concentration lapsed now and then especially in the second half and we gave the ball away. That high level of concentration is imperative. I think now and then in the first half and more in the second half a few were complacent because of the dominant possession and passed without looking. A bit of tiredness in the second half too. Three good goals, I'll take that all day long.

Fitted in well. Defended first which we need and secondly didn't try and get in front of Sulemana which gave him room to run the full back and resulted in him laying on the second goal. Being right footed he wasn't continually turning right onto his left foot.

I don't care what he wants but Sulemana coming inside against a massed defence is no faster than any other player running with the ball and is either crowded out or forced across the front of the defence. I once proved to a retired Olympic sprinter that was a good footballer and probably a lot quicker than Sulemana, that he was no quicker runnning with the ball and the only times he could use his pace was to run a defender onto a through pass or knock the ball into space and outpace the defender as Sulemana does when he has the room. Both our regular fullbacks are our biggest defensive weakness because of the space behind them. We don't create enough clear chances, score enough goals and concede far too many. All down to the way we play.

What really pisses me off is full backs and midfielders running into the wide space in front of Sulemana probably the quickest player in the league by a margin forcing him inside. If Martin knew anything about lightning quick players he'd know the space they need is wide between the halfway line and the corner flag so don't try overlaps or going wide leave it free instead make runs into the box. Our full backs should concentrate on disciplined defence. We'd soon see the benefit.

For a start places mean nothing in these circumstances. Only four points cover 3rd to 13th. Two draws could tumble us well down the league. True they count but we've scraped about seven points from injury time Hail Mary goals. So all the meaningless 72% possession statistics haven't produced much at all apart from conceding the highest goals against in the league. I'm calling for more discipline in defence, less off the cuff passing just totting up possession percentages especially in our own half. I think we are far below the level this team could play at it's best and playing the way we are, are probably never going to be. Furthermore we are falling further behind the top two each week with current results.

I see Adams as a waste of space. Ross Stewart is the next striker up alongside Armstrong or in front of.. Until then Mara. We need to offload Adams and Mara in due course and bring in a couple of strikers plus a proper centre back and a proper left back. Manning is a liability as he doesn't know how to defend. 72% possession and no penetration tells it's own story together with the keeper up for a corner in the 95th minute. Hail Mary football, how many times this season.

We've just conceded so international centre back Bednarek is strolling forward as Preston retreat gets close to the halfway line mind is a blank so rolls the ball thirty yards out towards Edozie who is marked by Potts who intercepts the ball and goes on the burst lays it off and keeps going allegedly tracked by the Dozy Edozie gets the ball back and keeps going and scores. Potts was the obvious danger so time for Edozie instead of trying to catch him to take him down and accept the yellow card. Bednarek is poor with the ball doing what the idiot manager wants and yet again conceding unnecessarily through giving the ball away or losing it. 72% possession but we had the worst of the game until the flukey equaliser. Smallbone is just a ball recycler whose main job appears to be one touch passing. Holgate gives me the willies when he is in possession because he is careless. We can't continue to concede so many stupid goals. We are undisciplined and our defensive structure is like a sieve. We need to take a more disciplined structure where the defenders defend. The midfield of ball recyclers is a problem, for me it's Downes or Smallbone plus Alcaraz and S.Armstrong. Two wingers and two strikers. Adams has been hopeless. Last night Smallbone has the ball A.Armstrong makes a good run to the near post and the keeper saves. Where was Adams? in his usual static spot, on his heels just inside the penalty area. His job is in the goal area not lazily not bothering to make a proactive run. Mostly he is so inneffectve and isn't playing like a striker but looking like he is making challenging runs but is so late he never gets anywhere ever. 72% what's the point.

I think you've nailed it. I've been thinking that his goals before the window closed were indicative and predicted a goal drought after it closed. Against Rotherham he was totally innocuous. He certainly didn't do anything to show he deserved a game.

Surprised Graham Baker hasn't been named. I gave Martin Chivers a hard time against Tauntons and nearly had a punch up with Bernie Thomason over it. Some years later I went into Greentrees in London Road for a burger Martin was sitting near the window and recognised me straight away. We sat and chatted for quite a while. No hard feelings but he paid me complement of saying he'd never forget the going over. Brian Weaver was a cracking batsman and played for a number of Southampton clubs.

Warsash ???

The really shocking thing is changing a winning team. Adams is a myth. Ok he hit the post for the first goal but he is a poor striker. Alcaraz should have started. Edozie shows a lack of intelligence. Aribo is ponderous and the substitutions made us worse. Goals win matches not five hundred passes. Some of the players including Smallbone, Downes especially seem to think that passes are the be all and end all. Two easy points dropped.

During wartime Coastal Command put out flares but I think that might have been take offs.